It may be at least four or five years before the New York Power Authority's proposal for a major offshore wind farm takes shape, but supporters say it's not too early for local businesses to start getting ready for the work that will come with the project.

With that in mind, the Power Authority on Wednesday outlined an initiative to help local suppliers link up with the developers now working on proposals for wind farms off the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario that would generate 120 to 500 megawatts of electricity.

Through the Power Authority's "Get Listed" program, local companies that could supply components or offer services for the proposed wind farm can register through the NYPA Web site at www.nypa.gov and outline their capabilities and qualifications.

The developers now working on proposals for the project will be able to review those listings and can use them as a way of quickly finding local suppliers, said Richard M. Kessel, the Power Authority's president and chief executive officer.

"The notion is to try to bring everyone together in a partnership," Kessel said.

Local economic-development officials, who already are targeting the green energy industry as a potential source of new jobs for the region, believe that the offshore wind farm could help local companies develop skills and expertise that may help them land work on other wind energy projects. If not the first, the NYPA project could be one of the first offshore wind power projects in the United States.

"We're hoping we're one of the first in, and then this area becomes a hub" with the wind energy expertise developed with the Power Authority project, said Christina P. Orsi, regional director for Empire State Development Corp.

"In our community, we've often times looked for a silver bullet. This is not one," said Thomas A. Kucharski, president and chief executive officer of the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise economic-development and marketing group. "This is about building a cluster. We want to be able to lower our distribution and supply costs."

The project, depending on its ultimate size, would be six to 25 times the size of the Steel Winds wind energy project on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna. While the Steel Winds project has eight windmills, the offshore wind farm could have anywhere from 40 to more than 150 turbines spinning from towers located in the waters two to six miles from the shoreline.

Kessel touted the offshore wind farm as a potential economic boom for upstate New York, creating thousands of jobs through the project's construction, as well as the production of components used in the turbines and towers.

"This is a jobs-to-energy project," he said.

Developers who commit to using local labor and materials in the project will receive preference under the authority's evaluation process, as will proposals that would make some of the equipment in upstate New York, Kessel said.

Roughly 14 to 15 potential developers have expressed early interest in the wind farm project, Kessel has said. The authority set a June deadline for developers to submit proposals, with a goal of selecting a developer by the end of this year. Depending on the scale of the project, it could cost upward of $1 billion.

A key element would be for the developer to reach an agreement to sell the electricity generated by the wind farm to the Power Authority for up to 20 years. Such an agreement is essential because it would give the developer an established revenue stream that is needed for the project to get financing.

The Power Authority's participation is important because the electricity generated by the wind farm is expected to cost about 50 percent more than power now produced by conventional sources in New York.

Gary Hydock, owner of GCS Radiant Heat in Amherst, said he was optimistic about the wind energy project. "I can't be more encouraged," he said. "Let's get started."

Sharon Laudisi, the Power Authority's business development manager, urged the nearly 200 local businesspeople who attended the session outlining the "Get Listed" program at the University at Buffalo's North Campus in Amherst, not to wait.

"Get involved now," she said, "so it's not five years from now and you're saying "I ought to have done that.'"